'LUNA MOTH' steps and w.i.p. pictures

'LUNA MOTH' is part of a set with painted imagery

I will not call this abridged collection of pictures 'step by step' - but it gives a good overview about the making of the Luna Moth.

The moth will be integrated as a decorative element in a set of graphics which are based on water colored backgrounds

The drop shadows under the markings are not to be found on the natural luna moth wing and the markings are merely part of the wing pattern.

These shadows have a function in the final design and are kept on separate layers.

tools:

#wacom intuos (digital drawing tablet with pen)

#adobe photoshop 

#SAI 

this is the result (saves you the scrolling if you aren't interested in the 'making of' :-) )

all the screenshots are below

it starts with a rough sketch in SAI

blocking in the colors, keeping it semi transparent

adding some light and darks, same layer, drew some useless lines which later disappeared under the color layers

still working in SAI, blending a variety of hues in the purple and green spectrum

adding more color and texture

more definition and now the lines are back, in the form of the underlying wing bone (?) don't know if that is the correct name for them, the wings are now ready for blending and the first hair layer is established

several layers with blotchy sprayed and highly blended color patches, yellow to blue spectrum, shadows in dark blue - it makes the yellows and bright greens pop, hair layer is progressing with more color and darker areas, check the rim of the wings, it now has a darker fringe, there is a certain subtlety about the fringe, so I used a warm raspberry hue for painting it. later one I added a 10% layer of a medium ocre shade

  

I drew the markings on but didn't like the way they looked, later on I had the idea with the golden markings and deleted this layer. 

here they are back

the antlers are also added, they are very similar than feathers when it comes to the texture

hint: draw an oval shape and work in the selection of this shape, this way you save yourself the cleanup afterwards, the shape works like a stencil

last but not least - two more color varieties I liked as I tested the template

one in pastel colors and the other one in a dark color setting

thanks for visiting and your interest in my work in progress

Step by Step - flower sprigs from sketch to result

step by step/digital painting

photoshop/SAI

wacom tablet

SIMPLE FLOWER SPRIGS by Angelica S.

no photo reference

made up flowers based on 4-leaf blossoms 

loose pencil sketch of the desired arrangement

(scanned and lines masked out)

the element is relevant to a new set of digital designs and will complete a rose arrangement I painted earlier

below is the result and by scrolling down you can take a look at the major steps and find a preview for the rose arrangement 

Last but not least: this is not a tutorial but only a step by step, made of screenshots I took while working

Enjoy!

Thanks for visiting our blog

the initial sketch, which roughly captures the idea and arrangement

drawn on a sheet of paper, scanned it and then extracted the lines 

which can be done in PSP as well as in photoshop very easily with the mask features

I also added a layer of medium grey as neutral background

roughly blocked in green for the backside leaves, since the leaves are arranged slightly different than on the sketch,  I erased the lines for them (no longer relevant)

a little dimension can't harm and helps with the blossoms later on, 

soft highlights and shadows, nothing too overbearing

here is the cleaned up line'art' in white,  just a personal preference to turn the lines white

blocking in the blossoms, 3 layers, 3 different colors, 3 states of development

what now is dark will later be bright

and reversed, only the green buds stay close to the green shades as you will see later

I adjust the size of the blossoms as I go, the sketch is not a prison, just a guideline

I turned the layer with the smaller blossoms and the buds off

focus is on the biggest and brightest blossoms

adding a layer of light green (cool shades), this is an adjustment layer, which will determine the brightness

and the contrast in the outcome

this layer can also be used to define parts of the plant or to make subtle color changes on the underpainting (important layer for me, since the flowers will be available as painted template with several color options and I don't like them just to be flatly color shifted, it takes away from the dimension and makes details disappear)

as you might have noticed, I shifted the color of the background leaves to a cooler spectrum of green as in the initial layer since it will match the hues in the blossoms as well as the rose arrangement better than the warmer greens (I might, however, include the warmer version as separate layers in the psd template and therefore, kept the layer)

in the step below I added some light green and very light purple to the big blossoms, which will be helpful to achieve a pearly shimmer of the petals.

adding little details to the blossoms in white

the half matured blossoms with some shadows blocked in

(color spectrum medium-dark purple/cold hues)

adding more light to the petals, pink/purple hues and white

stems and little branches are determined 

adding some details to the twigs, which won't stay so very 'green' but get a layer of purple to subdue parts of them

time to add the closed buds, color spectrum neutral green

adding some more details to the blossoms (centers) and added the highlights in light yellow to the little buds

the stems and branches are finished with a layer of dark purple/warm 

the leaves are simplified since the focus is on the blossoms and leaves are rather supportive than dominant

here are the steps:

I painted them in a separate file starting with the layer from the element file:

adding a bit texture 

 adding some diffused highlights in a yellowish green

for the sake of variety, green can be so boring

more shadows

bold highlights in greenish-yellow (did that on a separate layer, just in case it's a bit too bold )

it wasn't - and so I merged the leaves and brought them back to the blossom file

thanks for your interest in this SBS, 

 as promised, the preview WIP of the rose arrangement

which now will progress with adding the floral sprigs from this SBS

happy painting and creating,

Angelica S.

www.art-for-design.com

Mona - step by step

this digital illustration features Mona, the little dog of Stéphanie Créations. 

Stephanie sent a stack of reference pictures to me, a variety of poses and closeups of Mona

the illustration is done with Paint Tool SAI and my Wacom Intuos 5

sketch with underpainting:

the under painting is very important, since it builds the base for dimensions. i keep the underpainting darker than the desired color value of the animal, this gives me more options later on for high lighting and will add lots of depth to the painting. i never use white or black in the under painting, but a variety of mid tones - next step will be to map out the direction of the fur and then the fun can start :)

fur map, on separate layer, very helpful to determine the fur flow on the first hair layer (it is a good idea to lock the fur map layer for not to merge it with the fur layers by accident) 

When i paint hair, i set down the opacity of the map layer to 5-10, so it won't disturb me, at times i blend it completely out (on large parts like the back or the sides, when i am sure of the direction)

start of the 1st hair layer, brush size 1.0 with 40% opacity to give the pen a chance to react to my hand pressure rather than to the brush preset, means - the more pressure, the thicker the brush strokes appear. the hairs are spaced out on the first layer, which makes them appear rough, blending will bring it together softly after the layer is completed. this is the layer where the single hair is at its thickest level. the following hair layers will be painted with a 0.5 brush and more density all together. you can see - the fur map is slightly visible, its my navigation system for hair so to say :)

Mona has a variety of length and texture in her coat. while i follow the fur map, i already add some movement to the hair where it is longer. it will look more natural later to have a slight wave in the longer and finer hair parts. with highlighting and darkening hair chunks this effect will be emphasized later on.

hair layer 1 completed, no blending yet. What you see is basically texturing the image by hand, i don't use overlay texturing on animals, it never looks natural enough for my taste. So what you see on a hairlayer are indeed single 1.0 dagger strokes in a variety of length and direction. When i paint hair, i make for every body part separate layers and group them (don't forget to name the layers, never underestimate correct labeling of the layers, can be tremendously helpful to keep the overview in the palette, when you work with many layers. ) 

Another important step is to flip the image horizontal and see if your hair flow looks organic or not and if the whole fur flow is adjusted to the body of the animal. don't depend on just one view in digital hair painting, the tube or illustration will look absolutely different, when flipped. you will find the balance in that with enough practice :)- next step is blending and color glazing, to add dimension to the illustration

hair layer 1 is now blended, the 1st color glaze is also completed, this builds the base for the second hair layer

glazing (digital) = overpainting areas of the illustration with a variety of colors in low opacity 

in the glaze layer i emphasize the light and dark areas of Mona's body

i decided to paint the pupils before proceeding to the second hair layer. since Mona has some expressive dark fur parts around her eyes, it makes it easier to balance the tonal values if the pupil is already painted. I kept it brighter than her original eyes are, since the fur around it will throw more shadow on the pupil in any case and will darken it considerably as i proceed with the fur ( and i don't want the eyes to look like black holes at the end - this sheet shows the basic steps of painting a pupil, the reflections differ from eye to eye, so there is no 'general' way to paint them, i mostly work with a variety of colors what makes the eyes more lively

This would also be the moment to mention, that i do NOT paint realism, but semi-realistic (with a great affection for surrealism) 

the 2nd hair layer is all about details (which can be very time consuming), for me personally it is the most enjoyable part. For Mona i choose to emphasize the longer hair strands and the light colored parts of her chest. 

 the eyes are not done yet, the dark 'eyeliner' is merely a guide for the finest hair lines surrounding the eye, as far as it are skin covered parts, they will also have tiny light reflections. the nose is will be taken care of later :)

detailing face and eyes, the muzzle hair is still 'raw' (not blended yet), next are the details on the nose

the nose is a combination of painted and afterwards blended pattern and a dark brown color glaze. On the last layer i added some little hairs around the nose, further blending of the muzzle area might be required as i add the finishing touches and of course - the whiskers (if you right-click the image and open in new tab/window, you can see the fullsize picture

'Mona' is available as Paint Shop Pro compatible psd character with 72 layers for accessories at

www.art-for-design.com

and

www.picsfordesign.com